NEWBERG, Ore. — Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue is moving forward with remodels of two stations — including Downtown Newberg’s Station 20 — funded by a $221 million bond measure passed by voters in 2021.

Deputy Chief Patrick Fale presented the district’s 2025-2026 annual update to the Newberg City Council on June 1, outlining station renovations, staffing details, and an ongoing effort to expand mental health resources for first responders.

Station 20, located at 414 E. Second St. in downtown Newberg, is awaiting final permitting before crews relocate to temporary quarters. Originally constructed in 1940 and extensively remodeled in 2012, the station will be upgraded for seismic safety and operational efficiency to improve response times, according to the TVFR website. 

Station 20 responds to approximately 57% of calls in Newberg and covers 32.5 square miles, including parts of unincorporated Yamhill County.

King City Station 35, located in Tigard, has already been vacated, and remodeling is underway, Fale said. The station handled 2% of Newberg emergency responses in 2025 — approximately 76 of 3,790 total calls. Both stations are being renovated using funds from Measure 34-308, a general obligation bond voters approved in 2021 that replaced an existing debt tax rate.

Fale noted that Newberg’s distance from other TVFR stations has led to a higher concentration of resources at Station 20 than is typical elsewhere in the district.

“Newberg is somewhat isolated from the rest of the fire district, meaning that our crews have to come out of Sherwood, King City, Tualatin, or Wilsonville to make access,” Fale said. “That has created one of the most densely operationally sound systems that we have in Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue. The concentrations of resources in Newberg are not seen anywhere else, even in our larger cities.”

The crew at Station 20 includes a four-person engine unit, two medic units, and a single-paramedic response vehicle, with 26 full-time personnel total. Each unit carries a paramedic. Fale said staffing levels are driven by TVFR response criteria — cardiac arrest calls, for example, require six trained personnel on-site within four minutes.

The city of Newberg operated its own fire district until 2016. On July 1 of that year, the city entered into a service agreement with TVFR, and in March 2018, voters approved two measures permanently annexing Newberg into the district. The transition was complete by July 1, 2018.

Fale said the upcoming remodel, which he estimates will take about 18 months, is designed to accommodate future growth as call volume increases.

“Downtown Beaverton runs a four-person engine, a four-person ladder truck, and a battalion chief along with a medic unit,” Fale said. “That could easily happen here in Newberg in the future where we’re running multiple companies out of one house.”

The district is also working to expand access to mental health resources for its personnel. Fale said first responders encounter roughly 500 traumatic events over the course of a career, compared to two or three for the average person.

TVFR has adopted the Struggle Well program, which has been implemented in fire departments across Oregon. According to Fale, 33 personnel with presumptive PTSD in Oregon completed the program in 2024, and all 33 returned to work. A 2016 study of U.S. and Canadian firefighters estimated that approximately 22% displayed symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Forty percent of TVFR first responders have completed the Struggle Well program; the district’s current goal is for all employees to participate.

“Creating spaces for wellness and downtime is certainly a priority for us,” Fale said. “We believe that we have a moral obligation to put every system in place to ensure that our people retire healthy and well as much as we can.”

Also at the June 1 Meeting

Council adopts updated master fee schedule

The City Council unanimously approved Resolution 2026-4022, updating the city’s master fee schedule. Changes include a new dedicated Mural Review Fee — previously folded into sign review pricing — an increase to the Police Records fee from $15 to $20, a 7% decrease to the Wastewater System Development Charge, and a 6.06% increase to the Transportation System Development Charge to fund planned infrastructure costs.

Council holds property tax rate steady

The City Council unanimously approved Resolution 2026-4031, maintaining the current property tax rate of $3.0748 per $1,000 of assessed value. Under a 2017 ballot measure, the council has annual authority to raise the rate by up to 3%, toward a maximum of $4.3827 per $1,000 of assessed value. Doing so this year would have generated approximately $250,000 in additional revenue — roughly $19 for the average Newberg property owner — but council members agreed with staff’s recommendation that the 2026-2027 budget is sufficiently stable to hold the rate flat.